Genius, Billion-heiress, Socialite, Hero
by PrincessTriSarahTops
Summary: Alexandria Stallion-Stark has been called many things in the year since finding her father, Tony Stark. But she's about to take up the most important title of all as the newest member of the Avengers. How will this new role affect the dynamic at the tower? How will it affect her relationship with the team's leader, Captain America? And how does her father impact her choices now?
1. Chapter 1

"Are you sure _I_ should be doing this?" Alexandria Stallion-Stark bit her lip. She awkwardly held a soldering gun between her fingers and silently prayed that she didn't burn herself. She had been working most of the afternoon with her father, Tony Stark, on the new suit they'd been building together when he decided it would be a good idea to let her solder some key components together.

"I mean what if I screw something up?" she sighed looking down at the wires. Which for the record were neither red nor blue. She'd never forgive television and movies for feeding her that lie her entire life. "I mean if there's faulty wiring I could literally fall to my death!"

"Princess, do you really think I'd let you wire something important like the repulsors on your first go?" Tony rolled his eyes. "Besides, can't make any omelets without breaking a few eggs."

The past few hours had been some of Tony's most gratifying moments as a father. He didn't even know he had a daughter until almost a year ago when she'd shown up with his girlfriend Pepper Potts. Lex was a student at New York University and as part of one of her classes she had set up a meeting with the Stark Industries CEO. After their interview, She identified Tony as her biological father. Everything seemed to happen in fast forward after that. There had been a confrontation with Lex's stepfather, Oliver Stallion, because he hadn't wanted his daughter to ever meet him. Oliver was so furious he completely cut her off. Since her mother had died when she was still just a kid, this left Alexandria with no place to go.

Feeling completely guilty for not knowing of her existence, and for inadvertently being the cause of the situation, Tony insisted she move into the Avenger's Tower where he could take care of her. Things seemed to go really well for awhile after that. Tony was introduced to his daughter's college roommate, Rachelle Miler, and her boyfriend at the time, Kyle Nelson. In return the young woman started integrating herself into her father's life as well. She quickly learned how to communicate with the residential A.I. JARVIS and found ways into the other Avenger's hearts as well.

She grew to idolize Pepper and the Black Widow, Natashia Romanov, who she affectionately called 'Aunt Nat'. It seemed, at least to her, that both women had found their own ways to succeed in a man's world. She found a familiar comfort with Dr. Bruce Banner as he was the most like the Scientist mother she missed so much. She bonded with Hawkeye over their shared love of cooking and overall loved her new life as Tony Stark's only daughter. Tony for his part in all of this realized that he also loved having her around. It was almost like having two of him! And who wouldn't love that?

Of course, much like the Frost poem where nothing gold can stay, life of the tower was only calm for a very brief time. Only three months after Lex had moved into the Tower an incident occurred, striking the new family to its core. Tony would never forget the moment when he first seriously felt like a father. New Years Eve Lex, Rachelle and Kyle were going to a party together. He'd hand an uneasy feeling the entire time the girls were in their room primping and getting ready, but he shook it off. Everyone gets nervous when they're sending their kid out alone. As he settled into the couch for the night he told himself the girls would be fine, that nothing was wrong. But he should have listened to the voices in the back of his mind.

Four thirty in the morning on New Year's day Tony and Pepper woke to a frantic call from Captain Rogers telling him to come down to the medical bay as soon as possible. It was an emergency he said and Alexandria had been hurt. Pull on pants and not bothering with anything else, Tony pulled a bathrobe clad Pepper towards the elevator and downstairs. He had never been so terrified in his entire life. She had trusted him to keep her safe and now...He didn't want to think of the possibilities. His genius mind went into hyper drive trying to think of where they had said they were going. Why hadn't she called him first? How had she gotten hurt so badly? Why hadn't she called him?

He flew off the handle the second he found Rogers in the medical bay. Luckily Pepper was able to keep a level head. She'd asked all the right questions. What exactly happened? Where was Rachelle? How could they help? Through a little detective work Tony, Pepper and Steve were able to piece together the whole story of exactly what had happened. Her now ex-boyfriend Kyle had, for lack of a better word, abused her. Tony felt his blood run cold when the truth was revealed.

The only reason Kyle Nelson was still alive to this day was because as the elder Stark was leaving the room to tear up the town in search of the soon to be very dead man, his daughter had called out to him in a weak and scared voice. _Dad._ He had never realized such a tiny little word could have a dramatic impact on his life. With the utterance of a single syllable he'd felt like his entire DNA had been rewritten. Being a father meant putting his kid first every single time. She needed him in that moment and she would need him for the rest of their lives. He used to think fathers were overrated. He had never needed one before, why should anyone else? But becoming a father had changed him. As cliché as it sounded he never knew what it meant to have a family until he had become the parent of an amazing, albeit nearly grown, teenager.

"Dad! Hello? Remember me? The daughter you are currently allowing to hold a metal melting device while you stare off into space and count metallic sheep?" Lex waved the soldering gun impatiently. She had probably been trying to get his attention for awhile, but he'd been too busy musing to notice.

"How do you know the sheep I count are metallic?" He folded his arms not missing a beat.

"Because I'm pretty sure you're brain just automatically puts Iron Man suits on everything. I'm waiting for the day the headlines read: _Tony Stark puts a giant suit of armor around the whole world!_ "

"Well I couldn't put a physical suit around the entire world...too big. But this project that Banner and I have been working on, it comes close. Let me help you with that thing. It looks dangerous." He reached over the workbench and started guiding her hand towards the correct place. He'd never admit it to anyone but teaching his daughter about science and technology was his favorite thing in the entire world at the moment. She was smart, well better than smart. She was a Stark which made her a genius through DNA. She picked things up quickly and loved to learn. Only recently though had she shown any interest in Science. Until two weeks ago Lex had insisted that her and Science didn't get along. As it turned out, all she needed was a teacher who understood how she thought and processed things. Enter fellow genius-robot-building-Biodad.


	2. Chapter 2

Tony and Lex worked together for a few more hours piecing together the Iron Girl suit that would be completely her own. They had put a lot of time and energy into finalizing the design and neither Stark could be more proud of their efforts. With the final wires being soldered into the glove they were currently bent over, Lex realized this was the longest time she'd spent alone with her father since they'd met.

At first she'd worried that meeting the great Tony Stark would be but a fleeting disappointment in her life. She never imagined that he'd want to get to know her or have his daughter in his life. As the past months had unfolded she was surprised to learn what an amazing, supportive, person he turned out to be. Sure their dynamic wasn't perfect. Sometimes he was more like an older best friend than a father figure. Sometimes she was more trouble than an adult daughter ought to be. But they were family and when everything else falls away, family is all you have. Lex's own musing was interrupted by JARVIS, an artificial intelligence of Tony's own design.

"Mr. Stark, Mrs. Potts wishes for me to inform you that dinner is ready. Should you and Miss Stark choose not to attend, the kitchen will be locked and neither of you will be given access." Being that he didn't have eyes or any physical features, JARVIS couldn't actually glare disapprovingly at his creator. That didn't stop the computer's automated voice from emoting the same criticism.

"Uh oh." Lex immediately powered down her soldering gun and placed it safely on the workbench's marble block where it couldn't melt or burn anything. "How long have we been down here anyway?"

"Like ten hours." Tony shrugged. "Don't worry about it. She can't lock me out of my own my own kitchen."

"Normally I'd agree with you, but this is Pepper we're talking about. She can do anything she wants."

"That..." Tony was about to say this was not the case. _He_ was the only one with the power to do as he pleased but he realized, looking into his daughter's eyes, that he'd gone soft in his oldish age. "Is a very good point, kiddo. Let's get up there before she threatens to changed the WIFI password too."

Captain Steve Rogers was standing at the top of the stairs expectantly. His girlfriend emerged from the downstairs laboratory with her father's arm around her shoulders. They made quite a pair the two Starks. Tony was wearing jeans and a ripped t-shirt, his bright blue arch reactor shining through the cotton material as he casually climbed the steps. Lex's smile was easily visible even with the oversized pair of goggles resting on the bridge of her nose. Her outfit was mostly obstructed from view by the starched white Stark Industries lab coat she'd recently received as a gift; her name embroidered under the company logo in a large purple font. Steve couldn't tell which of them had enjoyed their day together more.

"I didn't know you were coming up for dinner!" her smile seemed to get wider as she broke away from her father to kiss Steve on the cheek.

"Did you forget?" The super soldier frowned, his eyes briefly flicked in Tony's direction. "Today is the big meeting. Hill is here. We have to go over everything before your press conference in two days."

"Press conference." Lex shuddered. Her nose crinkling in disgust. Now she remembered. It wasn't that it wasn't a great honor, becoming the youngest member of the Avengers, but why exactly did she have to hold a press conference for it?

"Hey, cheer up! You're last press conference went really well." Tony reminded her of the day when he officially announced to the world that he was in fact a father.

"But a lot has happened since then." She rolled her eyes. "Sure they like me last time, but the media's had some pretty tough criticisms about me since then." Lex then reminded Steve and Tony about some bad press she'd received regarding New Year's Eve. She'd been accused of wearing a dress that was too revealing. Some B level news channel had also spotted her going to the party with Kyle but leaving with Steve. This sparked and entirely new controversy about the youngest Stark inheriting her father's promiscuous tendencies.

"Well, maybe if they get to know you, they'll lay off." Rachelle, Lex's best friend, had popped up from seemingly nowhere. She dragged her boyfriend, Sam Wilson, along with her. "We were just watching a movie." She added as Tony glared Sam down. He'd seen the couple emerge from the girls' bedroom and didn't like the whole idea.

"Everyone else is waiting in the dining room." Steve said, leading the march into the other room. It seemed that "everyone" wasn't exactly a true statement as not all the Avengers were present. Pepper was seated at her usual spot at the table directly to the right of the head; Tony's usual seat. SHIELD Agent Maria Hill was sitting across from Pepper with a pile of documents in front of her. Her dark hair was pulled back and knotted into a bun at the base of her neck, her short bangs cropped just above her eyes. Those blue green eyes seemed to smiled as she talked with the Stark Industries CEO. To Hill's left sat Lex's figurative Aunt Nat and Clint Barton, AKA Hawkeye.

Completely absent from their dinner meeting were founding Avengers Thor, who was probably on Asgard, and Dr. Bruce Banner. Lex regretted the absence of the later much more than the former. Despite being known as a big green rage monster, Dr. B was actually a fairly calm person. It took a lot to get him to Hulk levels of anger and because of this he seemed to radiate calm whenever the situation demanded it. _Really could have used some of that calm Dr. B._ She thought, pulling out the chair next to Pepper.

The others filed in after that. Tony took up his place as the head of the table. Steve Sat to his girlfriend's immediately left, and with Sam and Rachelle claiming the fourth and fifth chairs on that side respectively. That was when Lex noticed that Tony's friend and the final, though semi-unofficial, Avenger was also missing from the table.

"No, Rhodey tonight?" She asked looking directly over at her father.

"He had some important military thing he had to fly out for. Sends his love though I'm sure." Tony explained pulling his chair closer to the table.

"Hey kid, what's with the goggles? going swimming after this?" Clint raised an eyebrow from across the table.

"What?" Lex reached up and touched her face. She was surprised to find the protective goggles still covering her eyes. She immediately pulled them off. "Thanks. Wow everything's so clear without those on." She blinked a few times. "Anyway what's first dinner first? Meeting first?"

"Dinner first." Pepper insisted without giving anyone else an option. "At least for you and Tony. You two have been locked downstairs all day and I doubt you've stopped for air, let alone food." Lex shrugged and so did Tony. She was probably right. If breathing wasn't an autonomic function, they would have forgotten all about it. Technology didn't need to breath. Wires and circuits craved power not oxygen. _Power_. Lex thought with a yawn. That's what she really needed.

"I could eat." She shrugged again. Maybe the press was right. Maybe she _was_ turning into Tony.

"Are we having take out, or something of the Barton secret menu?" Rachelle asked excitedly. She hadn't been living at the Tower as long as Alex or the others, but she had already learned that even on his worst days Clint's food was a thousand times better than what the others could collectively scrape together. (Except for Alex, who Rachelle was pretty sure was the only other tower resident who even knew how to turn on the stove.)

"I wouldn't say it's off the secret menu." Clint scrapped his chair across the polished floor as he stood up. "It's just cheeseburgers, but I cooked and seasoned them myself." He stopped just shorted of the doorway as if reading the younger women's two separate thoughts. "They're store bought, so no Barton cows tonight." He pointed at Lex who would asked this question anytime a beef related item was being served. "But yes, I did bring Barton cheese because I knew you'd be here." He promised Rachelle, who given the choice, would probably survive exclusively on the organic cheese produced from Clint's family farm.

When dinner was over it looked like business was the last thing on everyone's minds. Tony's ear was tilted towards Pepper. To the untrained eye it would look like he was actually listening to her for once, when really he was thinking about all of the work still left to be done in the lab. Natasha was the last to finish eating, her mind also not exactly present during the dinner. Across the table, Sam and Rachelle's meals were both long gone. The couple had their phones out under the table sending secret text messages back and forth. Clint had just re-entered the room with a warm apple pie between his hands.

"Please tell me there's ice cream?" Tony tore away from his one-sided conversation to ask. Clint shook his head, 'no'. The billionaire leaned back in his chair and sulked. "Well then I guess I'm not having dessert.

"You're such a baby." Lex snorted. She reached forward and defiantly cut herself a large piece of pie.

"Takes one to know one." Tony made a standoffish face in response.

"Whatever." She rolled her eyes. "Barton pie is good pie. And apple's my favorite."

"That's my girl!" Steve smiled with approval as he cut offer the pie out to Agent Hill who politely declined.

"That's _my_ girl." Tony hissed, snatching the pie from Roger's grip. He then cut himself a piece of pie clearly equal to a quarter of its whole. Dessert was then passed around the rest of the table with the other guests taking more reasonable slices.

"Okay," Hill sighed now that the great pie debate seemed to have ended. "Let's get down to business..."

"To defeat the Huns!" Rachelle chirped from the other end of the table. She sank low into her seat when the others stared back at her. "Sorry," She half-whispered. "Civilian peanut gallery shutting up."

"Look," Maria said, turning her attention back to Alexandria. "I don't have too much to tell you. We want your answers to be as genuine as possible, because we don't want the public to know that even a shell of SHIELD still exists. Your responses should sound concise and prepared but not _too_ prepared."

"Got it. It shouldn't sound like I'm being coached by anyone, especially a government agency." Lex was vaguely aware that SHIELD had been secretly taken over and publically disbanded by HYDRA within the last two years, but it had happened before she'd come to live at the tower. Before things like that seemed relevant enough. The specific politics of it all were confusing even now.

"Exactly. And for obvious reasons avoid using words like 'SHIELD', HYDRA, government..."

"Anything that could link me or the Avengers back you and Fury basically." Lex said. She wanted Hill to know that she understood the importance of letting civilians know what happened behind closed doors. Maria nodded.

"So let's try a few questions then." The agent suggested. "Miss Stark, how do you feel about SHIELD, an organization created by your own grandfather, being so easily taken down by a terrorist organization like HYDRA?"

"Wow, you really know how to go for the belt, Don't you?" Lex's mouth felt dry as she tried to think of a politically correct answer. "Well, I'd say...an organization such as SHIELD, can never be taken down easily. And...well to be honest I was never a part of SHEILD, so I can't speak too much of it specifically. But I can speak to you as the granddaughter of Howard Stark. Grandpa Stark believed in change and innovation above all else. He started SHIELD during World War two as a response to Russia's SSR. That's what America needed at the time. Our own secret science agency. But seventy years have passed since then. America's changed, her needs have changed. In an age of cell phones and WIFI, with information at the tap of your finger, Americans need transparency. Any agency not willing to comply to that at least on some level, wouldn't survive much longer in today's America." Lex bit her lip. She'd said SHIELD too many times for someone who wasn't suppose to mention it at all.

"It's a little preachy," Hill observed. "But otherwise an appropriate response. Doesn't give anything away, but maintains the idea that you hold some authority. Anyone else?"

"Tell us something personal about Captain America!" Nat called from her seat. "Sounds ridiculous I know, but it doesn't matter if you've got a license to kill in fifteen countries. If you're a woman all they want to know is who's shoes are you wearing and what juice detail can you tell us about your current boy toy. So come on kid, tell me something personal about Captain America." Lex thought for a beat. This time trying to come up with something revealing enough that the public would consider it personal, but common knowledge enough among everyone in the room that Steve would feel comfortable having the information exposed.

"Captain Steve Grant Rogers, owns a pair of American flag printed boxers." She admitted to the table. Everyone laughed except for Tony. "Which I have only seen on one occasion while he was washing his laundry!" She rushed to explain. This seemed to dissipate the laughter a little, Steve was smiling next to her.

"What's the worst thing about being Tony Stark's daughter?" The billionaire asked, cutting across everyone else's cackles. Pepper opened her mouth to chide him for once again making something about him, but she stopped when it seemed Lex was seriously considering the question as if it were part of the mock interview.

"The worst? I mean I could say that you don't know how to cook and we eat take out like every night. But that's every kid's dream. I could say that having a famous dad sucks because it means I'm in the public eye twenty four-seven, and we barely have time to hang out just the two if us, But the truth is there are no bad things. Tony Stark is an amazing Dad and I'm so lucky to have him in my life."

"You've just got an answer for everything don't you." He smirked. The uncomfortable air in the room disappeared instantly.

"Learned from the best!" She promised, raising her glass of soda in his direction before tilting it towards her mouth for a sip.

* * *

 **So a lot of Chapter 2 is mostly exposition to drive the story forward. In fact the next few chapters will basically be set up until we get into the Age of Ultron Story line. Before I get involved with Ultron I really want to set up Lex as a member of the Avengers and cover a little bit of that transition between who she was and becoming a hero. Basically that's where I'm at, as a heads up!**

 **Ziggy55 I found this amazing iphone app (Not sure if its available for Android) called "Social Dummy" to make all the social media "Screenshots" on Lex's Tumblr. It's a free app and as you can tell it makes the profiles look 100% real! My favorite part of that so far has been creating everyone's twitter handles!**

 **I want to thank Ziggy55, Irianna Marie, gotmoreissuesthanvogue & SummerMistedDragon for their wonderful reviews of Chapter 1! I'm so glad to see that so many readers have followed Lex and I over from _Melting Hearts of Iron and Ice._ I only hope that you all enjoy this sequel as much as the original was loved! As most of you know I don't have an official update scheduled, but I'll try to be back with updates as often as I can! In the meantime please continue reading, reviewing, favoriting, following and enjoying!**


	3. Chapter 3

As the impromptu interrogation came to an end, nearly everyone had finished their slices of apple pie. Only Tony was still working away at his oversized piece when Lex and Clint began clearing the table. She walked by his seat with a stack of dirty dishes in hand.

"Would you like a to-go container for your dessert, Mr. Stark?" She asked, impersonating a restaurant server. "It seems you're having a bit of trouble finishing such a large piece."

"Stay away from my pie!" He waved her away with his fork.

"Guess we're not going back to work downstairs then. Looks like you'll be eating dessert 'till I'm married." Lex sighed. She left the room to deposit the dishes in the dishwasher. Normally Tony would have another snippy comeback, but he was too busy forcing down another bite of apple pie. Lex was still loading the dishwasher when Clint joined her in the kitchen, his own filthy stack in hand.

"Any chance you can sneak away tonight for a lesson?" The archer asked in a half-whisper, worried they may be overheard by the dinner party in the other room. The last three weeks he'd secretly been working with Lex, teaching her how to fly a plane. It was something she had insisted would be necessary. Of course Clint had initially rebuffed her request.

"What in the world would you ever need to know how to fly a plane for?"

"Lots of reasons." She had insisted with crossed arms. "Most importantly I'm going to be an official Avenger now. That means traveling all over the world. I need to know how to get myself out of a sticky situation."

"So why ask me to help? Tony's got a pilot's license. Come to think of it so does Nat, Steve, Wilson..."

"You and I both know Tony would say 'no' no matter how much I begged. Steve's not exactly the first person I think in terms of keeping secrets. He's not so well practiced in the art of deceit. And although Sam has unlimited access to the Air Force's flight simulators, I'm not sure he'd be willing to help me out on this one. Teaching someone to fly a plane is dangerous, you know. I figure you and Aunt Nat are the only ones really qualified for the job. You would both be able to keep it a secret from Tony, plus you're not just two agents with pilot's licenses. You two log more flying hours than any other Avenger, ignoring Sam and Rhodey's military careers. While Tasha's always the first to support my more reckless choices, only one important factor separates you two; you own your very own plane."

"Cooper and Lila showed you the Biplane in the barn?"

"Might have found it while super sleuthing around during one of our games." She shrugged. "So you'll do it then?" The fatherly part of Clint was telling him that he should do it. She was better off learning from him, a certified instructor, rather than someone else. Or even worse trying to learn on her own.

"Fine. But we don't tell Stark."

"Agreed." They shook on it. Three weeks, and thirty hours flying hours later, Clint held a grimy plate in his hand and waited for his counterpart's answer.

"Yes totally!" She nodded. "I'll tell Tony and Pepper that Laura called, needs some help with the kids and you guys asked me to stay the weekend. They won't think twice about it."

"Ah, the old 'my friend's pregnant wife' excuse. Should do the trick nicely. " Clint nodded with approval.

"dishes first, lying to parental figures second!"

"You two were in there for an awful long time." Pepper observed suspiciously when the two co-conspirators reentered the dining room. "Everything alright?"

"My wife called." Clint explained. "She's a little overwhelmed with the kids."

"I offered to help out. Since Rach basically stole my job at Stark Industries, I've got nothing to do with my days."

"How about going back to school?" Tony suggested. His fork clanging down onto an empty dessert plate.

"School...right..." Lex bit her lip. She'd been wondering how long it would be before this conversation would come up. After the Kyle incident, she'd missed two months of school. This forced her to forfeit the remainder of her Spring semester. All that time away from school had given her some perspective on her education. Lex realized she didn't actually want to study business like her step-father had groomed her to believe. She was sure Tony would understand that. He would never want her to do something that would make her unhappy. The problem was she hadn't exactly chosen a new major yet.

"I don't really want to go back to school until I know what I'm going to school _for_." Recounting her entire inner monologue to Tony  & Pepper, she waited for their chorus of disapproval.

"Sensible kid you've got there, Stark." Maria chimed in her support. "See you at the press conference, Alexandria. You'll do fine." She escorted herself out of the apartment, jacket in hand.

"Well, if you're not going back to school what are you going to do all day?" Pepper asked, sounding very motherly for the first time since she'd met Lex and Rachelle.

"Well I thought maybe become the youngest member of the world's most impressive super hero group, finally learn how to Science, maybe help Clint and Laura around the farm, help Rachelle with her homework and basically be the all around amazing person us Starks are known to be. But I haven't really thought about much past that..."

"Oh god."Nat shuddered from her seat. "There's two of them."

"Sooo can I go with Clint and help him take care of his kids and Pregnant wife?" Lex rocked forward on her toes waiting for an answer.

"Dishes first." Tony said, shoving his plate forward. "Parenting Barton's kids for him and skipping school second."

"You're the best Dad, Pepper." Lex kissed them each on the cheek before picking up her father's dirty plate and scampering back to the kitchen before they could ask any more questions.

* * *

 **A/N: Basically I'm super excited to finally have Lex doing some hero stuff that we didn't really get to see in Iron & Ice. And yes the next chapter will feature one of Lex and Clint's flying lessons. Which means I'll get to do all kinds of researched on what flying a plane is like. Yay! Seriously, this story has led to some weird google searches on my phone and computer...I'm afraid to even look at my browser history at this point! **

**gotmoreissuesthanvouge, It's just an automatic response for me at this point. Anytime someone starts with "let's get down to business." And Rachelle seems like that kind of person too. I love writing her so much!**

 **inazumame1997, I also love the family dinners! It's a great excuse to get everyone together to talk about the current goings on! I do hope this continues to be a sequel that you read. I want to keep the writing quality equal, if not better, to Iron and Ice since that store was so well received. I'll try and stay as close to the MCU cannon as possible without being boring or redundant.**

 **Ziggy55, I feel like Tony's biggest fear is that Pep will change the WIFI password and JARVIS will side with her, not letting him hack back into it. I don't know why but I just have that image in my head.**

 **Thank you so much to the three beautiful individuals listed above for their reviews of Chapter 2! As always I live for your reviews! I look forward to your options of Chapter 3 and can't wait to hear from you all again soon! To all my wonderful readers out there, you too are beautiful people and I want to thank you for your continued support whether its through reading, favoriting, following, reviewing or enjoying! I'm going to try and get Chap. 4 out tonight, if not it will probably be up sometime tomorrow. [Thumbs up emoji!]**


	4. Chapter 4

Lex gripped the "W" shaped steering wheel of the plane. _Technically it's not a wheel._ She scolded herself, remembering the aeronautic word Clint had taught her. _It's a yolk. Like the center of an egg._ She stared out the windshield gazing down the five hundred foot runway that ran parallel to the Barton farm house. Her heart pounded against the plane's safety restraints as she waited for the archer himself to join hers inside.

She was glad they were flying the Cessna today. It was the second of Clint's personal aircrafts, and thus far the more comfortable of the two. The seats looked more like a car's; plush and leather. And the technology was a bit of an upgrade compared to the Biplane. screens and meters that she could just barely understand were waiting at the ready for her next command.

"You all right, kid?" Clint looked at her worriedly as he clambered into the passenger seat.

"Me? Totally fine." She removed her hands from the yolk and shook them out. "I was just wondering who will be most disappointed in more if I crash this plane. I thought maybe _you_ since, well you would have one less plane, but Tony would probably buy you a new one. _He'd_ be incredibly upset I'm sure, maybe cursing me for not crashing it in an ice bath..."

"Words of advice, maybe don't think about crashing the plane when we're about to take off in it. And for the record, we will _all_ be extremely ticked if you crash this plane. Me, my wife, my wallet and Tony's. You're family, Lexi. Now let's get this bird in the air!"

With her instructor now strapped into the seat on her right, and the door next to him closed securely, Lex pushed the button to fire up the engine. Soon she could feel its power rumbling the entire aircraft. Next she started up the plane's sole propeller, watching as it spun wildly in front of them. Her genius mind going into hyper drive, adrenalin pumping through her as she pushed the yolk forward.

Five minutes later they were in the sky. It was incredible, she reflected as the farm house shrunk from view, how big the world actually was. She felt her ears pop as the Cessna ascended into new atmospheric pressure, but it didn't faze her too much. By now she was used to the sudden crackle of her inner ear. She banked the plane to the left, turning it in a tight circle above the farm. They were lucky the place was surrounded by hundreds of miles of undeveloped land. Otherwise someone would have spotted the bright yellow craft for sure.

"Can I try a flip or a barrel roll or something cool?" She asked Clint as they circled the house a second time.

"You sure you're ready for that?"

"Definitely." Lex gripped the handles on the yolk tighter.

"Alright, I'll be on standby just in case." He reached out for the his own yolk, nodded once it was safely in his grasp. "Just a basic flip." He insisted. "Nothing fancy."

"Okay, Okay." Lex pulled up on the yolk, leading the nose of the plane upwards. As the craft began to arch backwards she was glad for her safety restraints. Halfway through the flip she nearly panicked and insisted Clint take control. But by the time she would have reacted, the plane was already tilting the other way. With her first successful flip accomplished, Lex couldn't help but smile.

"That. was. awesome!" She called through the sound of her own laughter.

"My turn." Clint took control of the plane and began a flip of his own. Now free to let go of the controls, Lex held her hands above her head, enjoying the free fall feeling as the Cessna whipped through a fast flip. She now understood what Sam, Rhodey, Tony and everyone else enjoyed about flying so much. Rolling and flipping through the sky was like existing on a whole other plane. No longer a part of the green and blue earth down bellow, but still close enough to feel nostalgic.

"I never want to go back down there." She breathed to Clint when the plane finally leveled out.

"We have to be back for dinner, and the gas tank'll only last about two hours."

"I'll keep that in mind." She promised, steering the plane forward again. An hour and a half later they were back on the ground seated at the dinner table, as promised.

"I like when you come to visit, Lexi." Cooper said with a toothy grin. "You always tell the best stories."

"Yeah!" Lila agreed. "Can you tell us one now?"

"Kids, let Lex eat!"Laura scolded from her seat.

"I'll tell you what, after dinner you two can pick a movie and we'll watch it together. Jus the three of us." Lex promised. Both kids seemed to approve of this idea. They turned the attention away from Lex and toward their food.

"Assuming it's okay with your mom and Dad," Lex said stabbing a stack of carrots with her fork. "I may be around more often."

"Really?" Both kids, and their mother, seemed excited by this idea. "You know you're always welcome here. We can use any help we can get. Especially with our newest addition."

"She means our new baby sister." Lilia said matter-of-factly.

"No, it's going to be a brother." Cooper argued.

"Have you guys thought of names?" Lex interjected, trying to avoid a spat between the kids.

"We have." Laura nodded. "Natashia and Alexandria are both on the short list."

"I'm honored!" Having her own name included along with Clint's Best Friend's was a pretty big deal. Maybe not as big as getting to fly a plane, but still relatively cool.

"It's my turn to pick the movie!" Cooper insisted. With dinner long gone and cleaned up, both kids were eager to spend time with their favorite babysitter. After assurances from Lex that every thing would be just fine without them, Laura and Clint snuck away for some much needed alone time. Cooper Tugged on Lex's on as he led her to the bookshelf that housed the family's DVD collection.

"No!" Lila argued, skipping along beside them. "You picked the movie last time!"

"Did not!" her brother stuck his tongue out.

"How about I pick?" Lex reached for a DVD at random. Not having a sibling, herself she forgot how much brothers and sisters could fight. It was fortunate for her that both Cooper and Lila idolized their fellow child-of-an-Avenger. She was older and therefore all around cooler, simply by living on the planet a decade longer. It gave her some sort of 'street cred' that wasn't entirely warranted. Using her temporary power as the coolest kid in the room, Lex flipped over the movie case in her hand.

"Peter Pan." She read, putting the DVD in the player without waiting for their approval. She settling into the couch and almost instantly the two kids clambered to her sides. Lila laid her head in Lex's lap and snuggled a stuffed animal she'd brought down from her bedroom. Cooper, tentatively rested his head on one of Lex's shoulders and stared at the TV.

"This is one of my favorite Disney movies." Lex told the kids. she draped one arm around them each protectively as the Disney castle Logo flashed on screen.

"You say that every time we watch a Disney Movie." Lila yawned.

"Well, I like a lot of them." Lex smirked.

* * *

 **A/n: So I don't really have too much to say in this Chaps Author Note. Just that y'all are awesome and new updates will be out soon!**

 **Ziggy55 Charismatic sarcasm is my favorite kid of sarcasm! ;)**

 **Shout outs to Ziggy55, inazumame1997, gotmoreissuesthanvogue, & 1 guest for your reviews of Chapter 3! Thank you everyone for your continued support, I'll see you around next Chapter! **


	5. Chapter 5

"Ugh." Lex grunted as she scrambled to find her cell phone. It was _very_ early in the morning and she desperately needed to turn off her alarm. When she finally found her phone, she quickly tapped the noise machine and silence filled the room. Wiping sleep from her eyes, she dragged herself out of bed. It was the morning of her press conference and in order to make it back to the city in the time, she and Clint had to wake up long before the rooster would crow.

"Wish we could just fly back." She complained, her head resting against the window of Clint's pick-up. "Would be faster."

"You want to explain to Stark how you got back so fast?"

"On second thought, the pick-up is also great and will suffice." Back at the tower, everyone was showering their usual hustle or lack thereof. Tony was laying on the couch in a t-shirt and jeans. Pepper was trying to force a red and gold briefcase upon him. He ignored her, watching a random cartoon on TV. Steve was dressed from toe to shoulders in his star spangled costume. His shield and helmet were tucked carelessly between two bar stools while he talked to Rhodey. Rhodey was in street clothes since he, Rachelle and Sam had only been invited for moral support.

Natasha was wearing her sleek black cat suit, the blood red hourglass of the black widow's mark stood out brightly against the dark leather. She was laughing at Dr. Banner who was doing his best to control his tangled mess of black hair. Lex could tell by his firmly starched shirt and pants that he was doing his best to look put together.

"Should borrow some gel from, Tony." Clint appraised, walking towards the scientist, already dressed in his black and purple uniform.

"Daughter Stark!" Thor seemed to appear out of nowhere, his booming voice catching her by surprise.

"Thor!" She smiled. It seemed he had come from the kitchen. His hands weighed down with food that would soon be gone. "I didn't realize you were coming."

"I would not miss this day for anything Lady Alexandria! Since whence we first met I have looked forward to your appointment as warrior." He promised with a smile.

"Thanks. I'm going to go put on something a little less...comfortable." She excused herself from the main hub of the apartment and pushed open her bedroom door. When she did two figures on the opposite side of the room sprung apart. It was Rachelle and Sam. Both were still fully dressed but looking slightly disheveled. "Ugh gross." Lex made a playful face at them before walking directly into her spacious closet.

"It's not what it looks like!" Rachelle called into the closet.

"I don't care!" Her roommate shouted over her shoulder. "It's like watching parent's kiss. I just didn't need to see it." From one rod in the closet she pulled out a black pencil skirt and a breezy lavender shirt from a second. Being that Sam was otherwise occupied, Lex pulled her t-shirt and jeans off and quickly swapped them for the shirt and skirt from her closet.

"Hey," She poked her head out of the closest once she was fully dressed. "Can I borrow your black high heeled shoes? The ones with the little bows on the buckles."

"Sure." Rachelle nodded. She just so happened to be wearing the shoes in question, since they were the only high heeled shoes she owned. This wasn't really a concern to her though. She hated dressy shoes anyway. "Any chance I can borrow those boots that Nat sent to you from Italy?"

"You mean these?" Lex reappeared with the prized boots in hand. They were some sort of hybrid shoe. Not quite dressy, but still too nice to be an everyday style. They were lace ups with a pair of straps running across the top. "They're all yours. For the day." She flung the shoes at the bed, narrowly missing Sam's head. While Rachelle tucked her dark wash jeans into the tops of the boots she agreed they were much more her speed than the heels. There was much more space to wiggle her toes, unlike her own shoes that seemed to pinch everywhere. Now a thousand times more comfortable, she lept off her bed and joined Earth's Mightiest in the living room.

"Will you just put on the suit?!" Pepper was still trying to force Tony to take his gold and silver case when Lex clip-clopped in on borrowed shoes. _At least he's standing now_. She thought to herself.

"Why would I do that? It takes about two minutes to zip into...well not actually zip..."

"Tony, car?" His daughter suggested with a smile.

"Happy's down there with the limo." He half-explained before returning to his argument with Pepper.

"Well we're going to start getting in the car..." She slowly backed towards the door, hoping someone would follow along. Everyone else slowly filed out after her. It seemed no one had wanted to be the first to leave. Happy Hogan, the head of Stark Industries' security and another of Tony's close friends, was waiting outside the front door of Avenger's tower. He held open the back door of the limousine and addressed everyone in their group my name.

"Watch your head there Mr. Thor. Ms. Romanoff & Dr. Banner pleasure to see you both together. Ah and Miss Stark, we miss you around the office..."

"I'll be sure to stop by, as long as security will let me in." She winked before slipping into the leather seat between Thor and Aunt Nat.

* * *

 _Back here again._ Lex glared down at the familiar doubled doors of the Stark Industries conference room. On the other side of those doors sat her closest family and friends waiting to give her their support. But also on the other side was a wild pack of reporters and media representatives, their true intentions still unknown. The last time she'd faced a similar situation, she'd been nervous. It had been a big deal for Tony to admit to the world that he had an illegitimate daughter. The last time she'd spoken at a press conference it had been just her, Tony and Pepper against the world. This time things were a little different. The small family had an entire team watching their backs. That's what being an Avenger was about. The team was a whole so much greater than the sum all of their parts.

Holding her shoulder's back and her head high, Lex pushed open the doors and greeted the bustling crowd like a room full of old friends. She smiled, waved, and blew kisses to the guests as she passed their row. Her Stark charm was dialed up to ten. Only Tony and Steve were seated on stage, an empty seat between them which she assumed was hers. Everyone else who'd ridden over in the limo was seated in the first two rows, smiling and whispering words of encouragement as she passed. Steve took to the podium as his girlfriend sat down.

"I'd like to thank everyone for coming." He smiled. "Many of you know why we've gathered here today, but for those of you who don't and for our views at home, let me remind you. Today, the Avengers would like to introduce its newest member to you. To some of you she's a friend, a classmate, or co-worker. Some of you may know her only as Tony Stark's daughter. To us she's just Lex. Soon we'll all know her by another name entirely. Lex..." He sidestepped the microphone and motioned for her to come forward.

"Good morning everyone!" She wrenched the microphone off its stand, more comfortable speaking away from the wooden podium prison. The crowd clapped politely, waiting to see what she had to say. "Sorry, without your questions I'm not sure there's much for me to talk about. When I was up here last fall Tony, Pepper and I made the announcement that I'd be joining the family business. I don't think this is exactly what they had in mind..." The group gave a collective chuckle. "But honestly, you guys can't even being to understand the immense mix of pride and fear I'm feeling right now. Some days, I'm still trying to wrap my head around the fact that the incredible Hulk and I have the same favorite cereal or that Black Widow lets me borrow her clothes. The idea of standing shoulder to shoulder with these people...it's a humongous pair of shoes to fill. I'm not even sure it's a pair I _can_ fill. But I have to try. Before we get into questions, there's a story I have to tell you." Lex took a deep breath, forcing her emotions down inside as she thought back on the single night that reminded her she need to become a force for change in the world.

"January first two thousand fifteen. I wasn't born in New York, but I did grow up a stone's throw away in New Jersey. New Year's celebrations in the city were something I always looked forward to, even as a little kid. All the people, the lights, the fireworks, getting to stay up late. Which I'm sure you remember is pretty important to a kid. When this New Year's came around I made plans, like most college kids, to go to a party with my best friend, Rachelle Miller, who you have all seen me gallivanting through The City with," Rachelle faced the press and gave a polite wave before turning her attention back to Alex on stage. "and my boyfriend at the time. We'll just call him...K. So Rachelle and I leave the tower around eight maybe nine o'clock."

Flashes of what she could remember from that night came to Lex as she recounted the entire event for the media. Meeting "K" outside of the party house and following him up to the apartment. After the ball dropped she and Kyle went into a back room to play party games, leaving Rachelle in the safe hands of a guy from her painting class. (This was before she was an item with Sam Wilson, she reminded herself and the crowd.) Everything happened in rapid succession after that an empty beer bottle shattered her cheekbone, a large fist bruising her side. Steve coming to the rescue at three am in one of her father's cars.

"I'm not telling you all of this to make you feel sympathy towards me or anger towards 'K' or even to frighten you. I'm sharing what happened to us so that the whole world can understand something. Rachelle and I, we did everything right. We followed all the safely precautions that are instilled in young women since their first sex-ed class. Never go anywhere alone, don't go to a party with strangers, never drink anything you didn't pour yourself, don't leave your drink unattended, have an exit strategy. Even playing by the rules someone got hurt. Twenty four people a minute are victims of rape, physical violence or stalking in the United States. It can happen to anyone, man or woman, and it can happen anywhere. In your home or at a party."

"Again, I'm not saying all of this to scare you. Just to make you understand. We all have to understand the vital role that heroes like the Avengers play in our world. My life changed after January first. I couldn't live another minute without this desire, this need, to hold the world up on my shoulders and promise it everything was going to be alright. I can't identify myself as a victim. I need to be part of the solution. So I stand before you today, the youngest person thus far to join the Avengers in their crusade, ready to take your questions."

* * *

 **A/n: As you'll noticed chapters are coming out very quickly at the moment. This is partly because I have a lot of time off of work this week/am working mostly mornings on the days I do work. This wont be the case forever, but it will be nice for however long I can keep it up! Plus I'm kind of cranking through these chapters because I'm anxious to get to Age of Ultron. (Well some parts of it, but that's a note for a later time!) Lex's super name will be announced next chapter, which I'll probably get around to either tomorrow or Monday! :D**

 **POKEMON, with a name like that I hope you've been playing a lot of Pokemon Go! I know I have! As Chris Evans once said, picking my favorite Disney movie is like trying to make me pick my favorite child! There's sooooo many good ones! I've always love Aladdin, Beauty and the Beast, Bednobs and Broomsticks...the list in endless really.**

 **Ziggy55 I mean similar to what I said POKEMON ^, I will put in literally any Disney movie and be like "Oh, this is one of my favorites!" It would be so much easier for people to just say the ones they don't like. Ex, I've never liked Cinderella or Sleeping Beauty.**

 **Thanks to both Ziggy55 &Pokemon for your reviews of Chap 4! I know it must be hard to keep up with the reviews when I'm uploading a new chapter like every six hours. So the fact that I am getting any at this point is honestly incredible! I can't wait to hear what you think of Chap. 5, and how you think the story is progressing! TTYS with more updates!**


	6. Chapter 6

After opening the floor to questions, a rapid fire strand of them erupted from the reporters and journalists. Naturally the first round of these questions all seemed centered around the mysterious "K". The most pressing of which being "Who is he?" The room had rallied with her wanting to know what they could do as members of the press for the girl they had dubbed "America's Sweetheart." After twenty minutes of this, Tony leaned over his daughter's shoulder and spoke into the microphone.

"We're not going to tell you his name, because that obviously makes Lex uncomfortable. But I will tell you that in the New York City public records you can find information about several restraining orders filed by myself on behalf of Alexandria and Rachelle. So if we could change the course of this conversation..." He stepped back and joined Steve at the seats behind the podium.

"Miss Stark," A tall stylish woman with caramel colored skin stood in the audience and introduced herself. "Candace Fletcher, _Seventeen Magazine_. You're inclusion into the Avenger's is an inspiration to girls everywhere. Along with being the youngest of the team, you'll be only the second woman in the mix. Will your new alter ego convey this in any way?"

"Excellent question, Candace." Lex smiled, relieved to no longer be talking about Kyle. Although what did she expect would happen when she opened that can of worms? "After Steve and the rest of the team extended their invitation to me, I thought a lot about what being an Avenger would mean. I thought about the idea of becoming an icon. About pictures of me being hung on the walls of little girls bedrooms. I thought about people thinking of me the way I would think of someone like Black Widow or Thor. Of course I'm talking about the way I would think of them _before_ I knew Dr. Banner well enough to fight him for the last waffle." She winked at Bruce and earned a laugh from the crowd.

"What I mean is, yes. I am aware that becoming a member of this team means that a lot of young eyes will be on me. And a lot of adult ones too, I suppose. So I wanted to choose a name that would reflect that. Something I could picture girls aspiring to be. I know the first thing _I_ wanted to be when I grew up was a princess. Fairytale princesses are awesome. They protect their people and do all kinds of diplomatic things, but still have time to have fun and wear pretty dresses. Simply put, princesses are badass and I want the little girls around the world to think I'm badass too. Because every girl should feel empowered, like they could run a country and destroy evil, while wearing a pretty dress." The crowd, including the front row, erupted in a celebratory clap.

"Just a follow up question," Candace said, poised with an ipad ready to record Lex's response. "It seems like you've put a lot of thought into your name. Would you mind sharing it with all of us today, so that we can get it right in the future?"

"Of course. I'm sure many of you have figured out by now that I don't have any above average abilities. I can't rip a car door off with my bare hands," She glanced over her shoulder at Steve who gave a short nod. "So all of my day saving will be done with the help of a suit. Much in the same way that Tony and Colonel Rhodes have been outfitted. I wanted my name to have something to do with my suit as well. And while it's kind of a cheat, I decided to keep the mantle of "iron" to match Iron Man, and depending on who you ask, the Iron Patriot too. When I'm out on the streets, Call me Alex or Lex, but if you see me out there in purple and gold, call me Iron Princess."

There was a rustling behind her. Lex turned just into to see an oversized banner unroll from the ceiling. It was a computer generated image of what her finished suit would eventually look like. Very similar to the one that Tony and Rhodes wore, but with fitted curves. The CGI image was painted purple and gold exactly as she had specified. "Iron Princess" was written diagonally across the top. She covered the top of the microphone and whispered to Tony.

"I didn't tell anyone. How did you know?" _JARVIS._ he mouthed. He turned one of his hands in a slow circle as if to say _Now turn around and pay attention to them._ She rolled her eyes, but turned her attention back to their guests.

"Okay, next question?"

"Elaine Thomas, _Daily Bugle_ , Miss Stark." A reporter from the back row stood up. "Normally I'd ask how your parents feel about you taking on such a dangerous activity, but it seems you have full support from Mr. Stark. It's also very clear that Ms. Potts and the Avengers seem to support you as well. What about your best friend Rachelle? How does she feel about all of this?"

"I don't want to make a habit out of speaking for other people." Lex told the reporter with a mischievous grin. "Luckily my best friend just so happens to be here. Rach, you want to come up and answer a few questions?"

 _No._ Rachelle tried to say telepathically to her BFF. _What I want to do is pretend you never mentioned my name, and hide behind Sam. But I suppose it's too late for that._ She quickly combed her fingers through her hair before marching up to the stage in her borrowed Italian leather boots.

"Firstly let me say that I'm not as...eloquent as Alex. I wasn't born a Stark, and don't study business in school. That puts me at a bit of a home court disadvantage here, but I'll try my best." She said after accepting the mic from Lex. "Of course I totally support her choice to join the Avengers. Alexandria Stark is not the kind of person her can sit back and let things happen. I knew that from the first day I met her. It was move in day at NYU and this kid was like skateboarding or rollerblading up and down the hall. He bumps into some girl and spills her entire box of school supplies. So Alex charges over and demands that skateboard guy apologize. I thought for sure he'd laugh her off, but before I know it, skateboard guy is cleaning up the school supplies and apologizing this girl _and her parents_. The world needs more people like Alex. It might be dangerous but there's no one else I'd rather have watching my back."

Rachelle and Lex spent the next few minutes answering questions together. _Who is your celebrity crush at the moment?_ (Sam Wilson and Steve Rogers, naturally.) _What's your favorite thing about living at the Avenger's tower?_ (JARVIS!) _Which of the Avengers in the best cook?_ (Alex and Clint, the worst cook being Sam.) Eventually the other Avengers got involved as well. When the girls were asked what the cleanest room in the tower was, almost everyone collectively called out Dr. Banner's lab.

Still making sure that nothing important was given away, like Clint's family or Maria Hill's current involvement, questions were being shot out and answers were being fired back rapidly. It was the most fun anyone could remember having at a press conference. Including Tony, who had fun almost everywhere he went. By the end of the day it seemed even members of the media had enjoyed themselves. The representatives from varying websites, news channels, blogs and other outlets all left the press conference with plenty of material to put together their articles and segments. Lex was actually looking forward to watching the news and reading the magazines once they were published.

* * *

 **A/n: Well there you have it folks, the Iron Princess joins the Avengers! All that's left is for her and Tony to finish the suit and then she can finally join the others on missions!**

 **Ziggy55, Lex is bold, she get's it from her Dad, and you will certainly be seeing more of that from her! Sharing her experience was definitely hard but she knew it was something she had to do!**

 **inazumame1997, thank you for the compliment! I do worry if I've put out too many updates close together that the quality will dip. I'm glad to see this is not the case!**

 **gotmoreissuesthanvogue for real! Disney movies are like kids. Like just don't ask, they are all my favorite!**

 **Thank you so much to the three beautiful people above for leaving me reviews of Chapter 5! I can't wait to hear what you think of Chapter 6! Thanks so much to everyone for liking, favoring, following, and enjoying this story! I'll be back with an update soon.**


	7. Chapter 7

"Guess who just snatched up the last copy of the _Seventeen_!" Rachelle called as she skipped into her room. She'd just come from the newsstand a few blocks away and was triumphantly waving her magazine for everyone to see. Lex and Steve were there, sitting in a pile of pillows on the floor. He was holding a copy of _Time Magazine_ and she was re-reading a _Buzzfeed_ article from her phone. They both looked up at Rachelle's approach.

"Don't take all the credit, Stripes!" Sam followed in after his girl, a tray of Starbucks drinks in his hand. " _I_ was the one who actually paid for it, since someone conveniently left their purse upstairs, _again_." He rolled his eyes.

"Oldest trick in the book." Rachelle winked before kissing him on the cheek and prying her drink order from its cardboard holder.

"Smores Frappuccino for Lucky," Sam held a freezing cold drink out to Lex who took it with gratitude. "And a regular coffee for the Iceman; cream, no sugar." Steve accepted his coffee without looking up from the page he was reading. "Dang, that good?" He raised his eyebrows.

"Let me pay you back, Sam." Lex insisted after she took a large slurp of her cold drink. She pocked her phone, walked to her closet and pulled out a few bills from her own purse. "Here for me, Steve and little Miss Trickster over there..." She nodded her head is Rachelle's direction. Completely oblivious to the situation, Rach sipped from her cold drink while flipping through the pages of _Seventeen Magazine_.

"Oh you don't have to..."

"You forget I live with her. She pulls that trick on you at least three times a week and you fall for it every time. Take it and save it for next time if you want."

"If you insist..."

"I do." She forced the bills into his hands. "So Rachelle, what's _Seventeen_ have to say?" A few weeks had passed since the big press conference. The first to report out to the public were the television news and internet based companies such as _Buzzfeed_. But printed media like newspapers and magazines had to wait for their next edition to be out before sharing the story. So Lex, Steve, Rachelle and Sam decided to gather all the printed articles and read them together.

"Boy does Candace Fletcher _love_ you!" Rachelle finally looked up from her article. "Listen to this,"

' _If Steve Rogers as Captain America is America's Hero, then Alexandria Stark's Iron Princess will easily become America's Sweetheart. After first turning the head of Rogers himself, Lex Stark's speech, during the Press Conference held at Stark Industries two weeks ago, came off as a love letter to her country. During our talk with Miss Stark, she showed a passion for standing up for ones beliefs and making the world a better place for future generations. I speak for everyone here at_ Seventeen _when I say best of luck to you Miss Stark, we're looking forward to seeing all of the great things you'll do!_ '

"That's just the last Paragraph!" She remarked, holding the magazine out. "You have to read the whole thing."

" _Time Magazine_ had nothing but good things to say as well." Steve added before reading aloud. " _Purple and gold are the colors of royalty. A fitting choice for a young woman who very recently learned that she will someday stand at the helm of a billionaire's fortune. But Alexandria Stallion-Stark has made it clear that she's not here just to play with Daddy's expensive gadgets. In fact she is much more than the 'American Sweetheart' media outlets have dubbed her. She has passion, drive, determination and a dash of that charisma and charm we have all come to expect from her father, Tony Stark.'_ It's not just Candace Fletcher at _Seventeen Magazine_. They all seem to be impressed with you."

"America's Sweetheart. huh?" Lex laid down on the pile of floor pillows. "Fay Wray, Julia Roberts, Taylor Swift...and me. Lex Stark. Seems unbelievable." She propped herself up an her elbows and shook her head. "I'm nothing like them."

"All the more reason to dawn the title." Steve shrugged.

"It doesn't look like I have much of a choice at this point anyway." She sighed hauling herself off the floor. "Not to ditch the party early, but Tony said the suit should be done today. I want to head down there and check it out. Movie later?"

"Sleep over at Rogers' place if I remember correctly." Sam gave his friend a playful push on the shoulder.

"I'll be there." She swooped down and stole a quick kiss from Steve before shrugging on her lab coat and leaving him alone with Rachelle and Sam.

 _5-7-8-2-7-5._

"Welcome to the lab Miss. Stark!" JARVIS greeted after she entered her key code into the access panel that had previously separated her from Tony's private lab. Tony was standing in the center of the room, looking over his daughter's purple and gold suit for any minute details he may have overlooked. He was so absorbed in his work, he didn't even hear JARVIS' announcement.

"Dad?" Her father's spun around. A screwdriver fell from his mouth as he was taken by surprise.

"Don't scare me like that!" He ordered. He bent down and picked up his tool before aiming it at her. "You shouldn't sneak up on people."

"I used the keypad." Lex groaned. "And JARVIS was all, _'ello Miss. Stark welcome to the lab!'_ Right J?"

"I have never once said, 'ello' Miss Stark."

"Whatever. Same thing. Whoa, she looks great!" Lex gasped taking in the sight of her Iron Princess suit. "Can I try it on?"

"Sure." Tony nodded. "But not this one. This is Mark II, still has a few bugs. Stand over there."

"Mark II? What have you been doing down here?"

"Working obviously. Now take off your coat and stand over there." Complying with her father's request, she tossed her lab coat on the nearest chair and stepped on the black tiles he pointed to. All around her the floor began to give way. Sets of mechanical arms rose up along with what could have passes for a pair of metallic shoes. She stepped into the shoes and the robotic arms got to work. In mere seconds she was wrapped in metal from the waist down.

"Arms up, Sweatheart!" Tony instructed. A pair of robotic arms had dropped down from the ceiling and were ready to finish the job. Apprehensively, Lex extended her arms up, her finger's splayed open. She felt something hard straighten her spine and chest, realizing that the back and breastplates of the suit were now also attached.

"Chin..."

"Up. Got it." While listening to the whirling sounds of the suit being assembled, she quickly identified the mask as the next piece to be added. Tilting her chin up, she waited as the robotic arms clipped together the mask that would cover her face.

"Oh wow," Lex blinked as she looked through the heads up display inside the mask. "That's...this is...amazing!"

"You want to take her out for a spin?" Her father reached for what was probably Mark 400 of his own suit, crumpled into a briefcase shape under the workbench.

"Only if we can go out for a flight. I'm thinking, California?" She suggested excitedly.

"A flight? Well aren't you and eager beaver." He chuckled putting on his own suit.

"Sometimes you gotta run before you can walk."

"Remind you of someone, sir?" JARVIS' voice asked from inside both Iron helmets.

* * *

 **Ragityannie I live to see Iron Man and Iron Princess banter! They are great together because they are similar but still different enough to make things interesting!**

 **liziprincsama I understood you just fine! :) You're English wasn't terrible at all! But I would like to say that if it is easier for to leave reviews in your native language (Which I assume is Spanish) That's perfectly alright with me! Either way I appreciate your review and look forward to hearing from you again!**

 **Thank you to Ziggy55, Sethiel, gotmoreissuesthanvogue, Ragityannie, POKEMON, Blahblah, & liziprincsama, for your reviews of Chapter 6!**


	8. Chapter 8

Trees and snow. That was all anyone could see for miles in any direction; trees and snow. The six founding Avengers had been sent out to raid one of the few remaining Hydra facilities after learning from a reliable source that Loki's scepter was being kept there by Wolfgang Von Strucker. They'd also heard that Strucker may be using the scepter to experiment on humans. Tony and Steve decided this mission would be both too dangerous and important to be the first to have Lex come along on. Initially the others had agreed, but with goons popping up from seemingly nowhere, they were beginning to wonder if this had been the right idea.

Nat was plowing through the snow in a topless Land Rover Defender. Clint stood in the back of the Land Rover, loosing exploding arrows at any aforementioned nearby goons. Thor used their vehicle to propel himself forward and landed with a definitive thunk on a nearby watch tower. On his motorcycle, Steve was able to easily weave in and out of the mixed terrain taking down whoever he could in his path. Meanwhile the Hulk did what the Hulk does best; smash. Tony for his part, propelled himself skyward. He was going to get the first view of the base.

"Shit!" Tony bellowed as he misjudged the distance between himself and the building; damaging his suit slightly in the process.

"Language!" Steve called into the comlink, his old fashion notions taking over for a second. Hopefully no one would notice. "JARVIS, what's the viewpoint from upstairs?"

"A central building is protected by some kind of energy shield." JARVIS conveyed the information he received from an orbiting satellite in space. "Strucker's technology is well beyond any Hydra base we've taken."

"Loki's scepter must be here." Thor interjected. He swung his hammer around and hit a man square in the face. "Strucker couldn't mount this defense without it's help. At long last." Nat ditched her Land Rover, jumping out to elbow a non-helmeted fighter in the nose.

"At long last is lasting a little long boys." She pulled a pair of pistols from their side holsters. "Should have brought the kid with us." Clint, who was now safely hiding between a pair of trees, agreed.

"Yeah, I think we lost the element of surprise. Having an extra pair of eyes in the sky probably wouldn't have hurt."

"Completely out of the question." Tony argued. He swept half a dozen guys to the floor with his repulsor as he flew around the building, looking for a way in. "Wait a second. No one else is gonna deal with the fact that Cap just said 'language'?"

"I know." Steve sighed, thankful that no one could see his cheeks pinken with embarrassment. He stopped the motorcycle short. A few feet away was a team of guys packed in their own Land Rover, heading right for him. Pushing himself over the handlebars and using that action's momentum, he hurled the bike right over his head and into the oncoming Land Rover. "Just slipped out." He panted as the enemy vehicle flipped over.

Clint moved to a higher vantage point. He wanted to take out the guys behind some of the bigger guns. Finding a safe place, he nocked and arrow and sent it flying. He tucked himself back behind a tree and waited for an explosion that didn't come.

"You didn't see that coming?" A young man with white hair laughed before disappearing. He was gone before the archer even had time to react. Suddenly a gun was aimed at him and it fired.

"Clint!" Nat rushed to his help. Seconds later, Steve felt something try to knock him off his feet. With the help of a quick flip, he landed with his toes safely on the ground.

"We have an enhanced in the field." He warned the others.

"Clint's hit." Natasha relayed her own message when she arrived at her best friend's side. Luckily enough it looked like a burn of some sort rather than a bullet wound. "Does somebody want to deal with that bunker?" She hissed before bending down to further inspect his injuries. The Hulk obliged, plowing right through the structure and the three men hiding behind it. "Thank you."

"Stark, we really need to get inside." _As if I don't already know that, Cap._ Tony groaned internally.

"I'm closing in." He promised aloud. "JARVIS am I closing in?" He asked plowing through a group of unsuspecting baddies. "Do you see a power source for that shield.

"There's a particle wave below the north tower." JARVIS answered.

"Great, I want to poke it with something." With JARVIS' help he was able to zero in on the particle wave and disable the shield instantly. "The drawbridge is down, people."

"Clint's hit pretty bad, guys. We're gonna need an E-Vac." Nat cut into Tony's victorious moment.

"It's going to take a while, we got dropped off remember?" Steve said. "We gotta find a ride. Think he can hold off till then."

"The kid." Clint insisted. "She's on standby."

"Wow, did you hit your head there buddy?" Tony jumped in. "Even if Lex were on standby, she couldn't fly us out of here. She can't even drive a car. You want her to fly the Quinjet?"

"She can fly." Clint argued through gritted teeth. "I've been teaching her."

"No you haven't! When?"

"All those weekends babysitting at my house..."

"Rogers what's he talking about? Do you know anything about this?" Steve shook his head even though he knew Stark couldn't see him.

"She never told me. Flying's a bit of a sore subject between us."

"I can imagine. JARVIS call Lex at home..."

* * *

 **Ragityannie, glad to hear about your new appreciation for Wingman Wilson! I don't think he gets enough love from the MCU. Plus I love having him and Rach together. They work so well of each other.**

 **Thank you to POKEMON, completeEejit, & RagityAnnie for your reviews of Chapter 7! This is a shortish chapter but I should have a second one ready to post in a few hours! Thanks so much to everyone who has shown this story support be it through reading, reviewing, favoriting, or following!**


	9. Chapter 9

Rachelle came sauntering into the kitchen and dropped down on a stool next to her bestie. It was nine in the morning. Usually the apartment was a bustling hub of heroes prepping for their day. Tony would listen to JARVIS reading the morning headlines while Steve said something grandpaish about how back in his day the only way to get the news was from a paper. Nat, Banner or Clint would always come by unannounced for various reasons. Even Thor would stop in for the occasional meal or two. That particular morning however, the kitchen felt empty. Only Lex was positioned at the breakfast bar with a bowl of soggy cereal. Her chin was resting on her left fist and she was frowning deeply.

"Why so glum, chum?" Rachelle asked. She eyed her friend's food choice suspiciously. It wasn't that Lex was above cereal, but breakfast was her favorite meal of the day. She loved making pancakes or waffles with fresh fruit and whipped cream. Something as simple as cereal was usually consumed on a day when she wasn't feeling all there.

"Nothing really." She told her, playing with her spoon. A stale feeling hung in the air.

"I can't remember it ever being so quiet." Rachelle sighed.

"This is what it's always like when they go away. Quiet." Lex got up and poured her milk and cereal down the drain. She wasn't feeling that hungry.

"It's kind of funny how loud the quiet can feel." As an artist, Rachelle was always saying poetic things that Lex never fully understood. This time though, she got it. It never bothered them when the house was full of people. Thor's booming voice, Tony's hands always fidgeting with something, the click-clack of Pepper's shoes on the floor. But with Pepper already at work and the team gone on a mission the quiet felt out of place.

"I can't remember the last time they were all gone together. Maybe the first month I was here. I forgot what it was like. I keep expecting my dad to pop up from downstairs or for Steve to text me. Then I remember they're out and there's no way of knowing when they'll be home."

"They'll come home, Alex." Rachelle said. "They're safer together than when they go out on solo missions."

"It's not that at all. Of course they'll come home. Look, Clint told me to be on standby. He said that even though Steve and Tony didn't want me going out there, that they might need the extra help. And part of me wants them to need my help, because I want to help. But the rest of me doesn't want them to need my help. Because if they need my help then, well they must be in real trouble."

"Oh. That sounds very..."

"Complicated, I know." Lex leaned against the counter and sighed. "Maybe I should just go to work with you today. I promised Happy I'd stop by and visit soon and maybe some work will put this stuff out of my mind." A loud recorded knocking sound played through the kitchen's sound system. It was JARVIS' polite way of beginning a conversation whenever Rachelle was in the room since she always seemed to be startled by the AI's sudden voice. "What's up, J?"

"An urgent call from your father, Miss Stark."

"Oh? Okay um, patch him through." A close up image of Tony's face from inside his Iron Man suit appeared in the center of the kitchen. He didn't look injured or particularly banged up, which she supposed was a good sign. "Morning Dad."

"It's afternoon here, Sweetheart. So fly any good planes lately?"

"You talked to Clint." Her face dropped.

"Well you know Aunt Nat was all 'hey we need an air lift out of here' and for some reason your name was the only one he could manage..."

"Can we do the father-daughter lecture later? I still need that E-Vac." Nat's voice cut in over the comlinks.

"I'll get my suit! Talk to you later, Dad!"

"We're not done talking about this!" Tony shouted as she streaked away. "Wait till I tell Pepper!"

"Way ahead of you." Rachelle waved her phone at the onscreen billionaire before tapping out a text to Pepper and Sam. "I've gotta go to work, Tony, but I'll see you when you get back. Don't be too hard on Alex, she means well. Ok, bye." With a tap on JARVIS' interface their video call came to an end.

It didn't take long for Lex to suit up in the lab. Mere minutes later she was running down the tower's main staircase in her Iron Princess suit. She let herself into the Quinjet hanger. Without much trouble she managed to get to the jet's cockpit. Mostly by stumbling around in the dark.

"Great." She mumbled to herself. "Too bad Clint didn't teach me how to power this thing up." Suddenly the lights inside the jet turned themselves on. First the overhead lighting and then one by one the indicators in the cockpit blinked on.

"Perhaps I can be of assistance, Miss Stark." A familiar voice echoed inside her helmet.

"JARVIS, I forgot you where in there. Has he got you working inside the jet too?" She collapsed in the pilot's chair feeling a huge weight being lifted off her shoulders. It was a comfort knowing she would have JARVIS around as a backup.

"I am anywhere and everywhere that Mr. Stark could need me. Including the Quinjet." Was his reply.

"Well then I probably don't need this." The faceplate and hood of her helmet folded away inside her suit the tap of a button. With her helmet gone, Lex tugged her ponytail free from the suit, allowing it to swing back and forth as she strapped herself into the pilot's chair.

"Ok, let's get this bird in the air...Um, J, how do I turn the engines on?" She turned her eyes upwards even though JARVIS wasn't a physical being and there was no one to see.

"It's a push button start Miss Stark. To your left."

"Thanks." She took a deep breath and gripped the yolk with both hands.

Using the coordinates that Tony had sent over, and a heap of help from JARVIS, she found the Hydra hide out where the rest of the team was waiting. It was a rocky landing but she managed to keep from completely destroying the Quinjet. Lex quickly set to work unstrapping the pilot's harness. All the while trying to steady her breathing. She wasn't sure who was going to be the most angry with her; Tony or Steve. She briefly considered putting her helmet back on, but the idea seemed unnecessary when she assumed she probably wouldn't be leaving the jet.

"JARVIS, how do I open the drawbridge thing in the back?" She asked when she was finally ready to face the others.

"There orange switch above your head, Miss Stark."

"Thanks buddy." She took a few more calming breaths before flipping the switch and opening the metaphorical flood gates. She rose from her chair and turned to watch the bridge at the back of the plane slowly lower. Thor, being the tallest was the first person who became visible. He was smiling and holding his brother's scepter triumphantly. Steve was the next person she saw, his expression unreadable. Clint was being prompt up by Natasha and Tony. Lex didn't let her eyes linger long on them. Dr. Banner stood off to the side, shivering in the snow. They all looked like they'd been through hell.

* * *

 **A/n: Posting a new chapter to this story makes me feel like a phoenix rising from the ashes! I can't believe its already been more than a month since I updated! I'm so sorry about that! At first I had stopped posting because I just need a break. There had been like a week or two where I was posting a new chapter every day! Then when I had intended to come back from my short hiatus, my laptop broke! It's still broken technically, but I have a tablet to work with. It's alright, but its terrible with multitasking, and that makes my life kind of difficult. So long story short, I will be working towards updating again, but it's going to be slow going without a legitimate computer.**

 **Thank you to inazumame1997, gotmoreissuesthanvogue, POKEMON, and crazehfreakbesasseh for your reviews of chapter 8! To everyone out there thank you so much for your support and for enjoying this story! I will be back with another update as soon as I can. In the mean time, please continue favoriting, following, reviewing and enjoying!**


	10. Chapter 10

If Tony wasn't so busy practicing his angry dad face, he would have been impressed. His kid hadn't been flying for very long, but she'd managed to get herself, and the Quinjet, to Sakovia in as few pieces as possible. He couldn't wait to get home to look for damages he'd never find. He was bolstering most of Clint's weight on his own shoulders, but Nat was clinging to the archer's other side. It didn't look good for the guy; that was for sure.

Steve tapped his foot impatiently, waiting for the cargo hatch to open. The team had done what they'd come to do. They had retrieved Loki's scepter. Mission accomplished. His post mission debriefing would be short. Short enough that he would have plenty of time to sit Lex down and have a serious conversation about trust. With his hands on his hips, he gave Barton a side glace. He would most likely pull through if they got him home in time.

It was snowing, and Bruce was freezing. All he could think of was whoever the hell was on the other side of that hatch better have a hot towel…or at least the heat turned on. Thor had been kind enough to lend out his cape temporarily, but it wasn't exactly room temperature under there. He wanted to hug Lex Stark when he saw her standing at the top of the ramp, a bundle of clean clothes in one hand and her other gripped on a medical stretcher.

"E-Vac at the ready?" She said in a shaky voice. Steve and Nat set to work hauling Clint up onto the stretcher and inside the jet. Banner practically scrambled for the clothes Lex offered out to him. He felt much better with his feet in a pair of shoes and his body in an actual pair of pants. Thor seemed completely oblivious to the scenes unfolding around him. He stepping inside, still proudly brandishing the scepter.

"We're gonna have a talk later." Tony pointed a finger as his daughter. His took off his Iron Man suit, allowing it to fold itself into a suitcase shape. He kicked the suitcase under a random seat and sat in the Captain's chair before closing the cargo hatch and starting the engines back up. Lex stepped out of her own suit, biting her lip. She had no idea how to make it fold up like Tony's or if it even could. So instead she left the empty shell standing in the corner and looked around.

Her father had his back to her, operating the Quinjet and trying to get them out of there. Nat was inserting an IV line in Clint's arm. Steve and Thor were now both studying Loki's scepter. A fully clothed Dr. Banner was sitting in the opposite corner on the floor. She decided to join him there. After all, he'd still be naked if it wasn't for her. He probably would handle her company better than the others.

"Thank you for the clothes." Was the first thing he said. He gave her a grateful kiss on the forehead. It wasn't just for the clothes. She was still a kid on a lot of ways, and she never looked at him like the monster that he was. It seemed Lex had the trouble seeing the monsters that hid inside of anyone. Although it was dangerous to think like that, he hoped the idea never went away from her.

"I sort of stole them from your locker in Tony's lab. I hope you don't mind. I didn't really know how the whole Hulk thing worked. From what I saw on TV though, the other guy is not much of a fan of clothing." This earned a laugh from the scientist.

"No, he's not. He's not a fan of too many things. Not cars, trees or other people." Bruce sighed.

"He can't be all bad." Lex leaned her head on his shoulder. She liked Dr. Banner. She loved all the Avengers like family really, because in a lot of ways they were the only family she had. She couldn't stand to see even one of them depressed. "Thor!" She called out to the god while holding his own cape in offering. "Can Dr. Banner have a status report on the Hulk?"

"The gates of hell are filled with the screams of his victims!" Thor's booming voice replied cheerily as he walked over to claim his cape. Bruce leaned forward, hiding his face in his hands. Lex widened her eyes at the god trying to say ' _That's not what I meant!'_

"Ehh…but not the screams of the dead of course." Thor took slow steps backwards. He was trying to get back to his spot next to Steve. "No, ah…wounded screams. Mainly whimpering…a great deal of complaining…" He let his sentence trail off. He was being of no help to the midgardians.

"Hey Banner!" Tony yelled over his shoulder from the cockpit. "Dr. Cho is on her way in from Seoul, is it okay if she sets up in your lab?"

"Uh, yeah." Bruce called back. "She knows her way around."

"Thanks. JARVIS take the wheel." Tony let his AI take control of the jet. He could have had JARVIS pick them up to, but when Clint mentioned letting Lex fly them out of there, well he just had to see for himself.

"On a scale of Dr. B to the other guy, how mad is he with me right now?" Lex whispered to Bruce, nodding her head in her father's direction. They watched as the billionaire joined Thor and Steve at the scepter.

"I'd say a solid olive." Banner confirmed. "He's probably pretty pissed, but you learned to fly a plane in what, two months? That's impressive, even for a Stark. He won't stay mad for very long. He never does with you. The Captain on the other hand…" They both turned the attention to Steve. Even though he hadn't said much since boarding the jet, his body language said plenty.

"Yeah, you're probably right." She sighed, still watching Steve and Tony. Lex decided she should probably go over and see them both. Let them decide who got to deliver the first metaphorical blow. "By the way, it only took me four weeks, not two months." She added before rising from the floor and walking away.

"Yes, yes! Of course. Victory must be celebrated with revels!" Thor was saying as she made her way over to the threesome.

"Who doesn't love revels?" Tony leaned against the wall in agreement. "Captain?"

"Hopefully, this puts an end to Hydra and the Chitauri, so yes, revels." Steve nodded.

"Rough day at the office, am I right?" Lex laughed half-heartedly.

"Excuse me, I must assist the spider woman." Thor made an immediate exit from the conversation by pretending to help Natasha with Clint's care.

"Cap, would you mind…?" Tony put a hand on Lex's shoulder.

"All yours." Steve nodded. He too went to follow up on Barton. With everyone else gathered towards the front of the plane the father and daughter were free to have a one on one conversation.

"What the hell were you thinking?" Tony hissed. "This isn't sneaking down to Rogers' apartment to watch a movie at one in the morning or Wilson taking you and Rachelle out for cheeseburgers in the middle of the night, yeah I knew about all of that by the way. This is something that's actually dangerous, Alexandria!" Lex flinched involuntarily. Tony never called her by her full name. It felt unsettling in his voice. She started to feel as if she had really screwed things up. She wish Clint was well enough to help defend her. Her eyes flicked over to where he was laying.

"Don't think he's getting out of this either!" Her father snarled, bringing the attention back to himself. "I aught take his kids out. Teach 'em something dangerous like…driving a car. You hear that Barton? I'm taking your kids out for a joy ride in a very fast, very dangerous sports car!" Tony was sure if Barton were conscious, he'd be laughing.

"What am I going to do with you, Alexandra?" He raked a hand through his already tousled hair. "I know what you're grandfather would tell me to do…I'm so upset I can't even think straight!" He massaged his face, trying to collect his jumbled thoughts. "Whose idea was it? Yours? Barton's? Rogers'?"

"No, no. Steve had nothing to do with it. I promise, Dad. Um, Tony." Lex looked down at her feet. She thought back on the day she'd first proposed the idea to Clint. Her reasoning seemed so concreate at the time. Now she felt like a stupid headstrong kid. But Clint hadn't seen things that way. He had taken her request seriously. Encouraged her to treat her skills as a resource and acquire as many new ones as she could.

"It was my idea, Tony." She looked up at him with new resolve. "Clint and I talked it over for a very long time before he agreed to help me. I didn't ask you or Steve because I knew you'd both say no. You both care about me too much to let my even try something so dangerous. I know you trust Clint, you trust all of these guys with your life every day. I'm safer learning from them than anyone else on the planet. Plus I think I proved today that having yet another pilot on the team could be an asset. Sure, you probably could have used JARVIS to autopilot the jet from home to Sakovia, but there might not always be a JARVIS or any AI. If I'm going to be a member of this team, I need to be a useful one. I need to have skills that will benefit everyone. Not just flashy gadgets."

Tony was listening as hard as he could. He genuinely tried to be apathetic to her position. He tried to understand how she was feeling. But, as he found out, it is difficult to favor someone else's position over your own when they are literally looking up at you with _your_ face. While Lex's mouth was saying she had thoroughly thought things through, her eyes had the familiar Stark spark in them. They were the same eyes he'd seen in the mirror a hundred times. Eyes that seemed to say 'I sure as hell hope this works out okay.'

"How long has this been going on?" He asked finally. He wasn't going to be able to stop her, being that she was an adult, but he at least needed to know how much damage had already been done. He needed to know what he could do to make sure she stayed safe.

"I've done thirty four hours in four weeks. Plus, I flew here by myself. JARVIS was mostly navigation." She told him. Tony couldn't hide how impressed he was. She could see it on his face. Dr. Banner had said two months would have been impressive for a Stark. Clearly her father felt the same.

"Go sit down, we're gonna be home soon." Was all Tony said before turning and going back to the cockpit.

* * *

 **A/n: After a forever long hiatus I'm back with two updates in the same day! Yay! As I'm sure you guys have already worked out by now, I am starting to work with Age Of Ultron. Hopefully that means updates with be quicker and easier because I'll be working off a source material, rather than every single moment having to come from my brain. Some things from Ultron will stay the same other things will change. I dont have _every_ detail mapped out perfectly just yet, but I at least have an idea of where I would like to go! And as always, I'm open to questions and even suggestions if you guys have any!**

 **Thank you to POKEMON, inazumame1997, & Nightmarehunter676 for your reviews of Chapter 9! I hope everyone enjoyed Chap. 10. I will be back with 11 ASAP! :) **


	11. Chapter 11

Lex hung back when they got home. It was more important for Dr. Cho and her team to get Clint off the jet as soon as possible. It wasn't like she had anywhere to be anyway and after the conversation she'd had with Tony she really wasn't looking forward to talking to Steve. Dr. Banner left with the medical team hoping to be even the slightest bit of use. Natasha followed after them already on the phone with Laura, informing her of the situation. Thor also left the jet quickly. He wanted to take Loki's scepter somewhere secure as soon as possible. This left Lex, Tony and Steve alone in Quinjet when Maria Hill came walking up the ramp of the cargo hatch.

"Lab's all set up boss." Maria told Tony confidently. She was surprised to see Lex leaning against one of the walls. She wasn't supposed to be on this mission as far as the director knew.

"Actually," Tony swiveled in his chair and pointed at Steve. "He's the boss. I just pay for everything and design everything and make everyone look cooler." Steve rolled his eyes as the eldest Stark pushed past him. Tony picked up his suit before walking over to his daughter's. He deactivated the Iron Princess suit, waited for it to fold itself up, and left without so much as a polite parting word to any of them.

"Don't take it personally." Lex said, shoved off the wall. "I ticked him off and he's taking it out on everyone else." She started to leave the jet herself, but Steve's gloved hand grabbed for hers. His intention was clear, _please stay with me._ She laced her fingers through his, ignoring how rough the outer texture of the glove was against her skin.

"What's the word on Strucker and the two enhanced?" He asked Maria, not skipping a beat.

"NATO's got _him_." She explained. "Wanda and Pietro Maximoff. Twins." She held up a tablet with their photos for confirmation. "Orphaned at ten when a shell collapsed their apartment building. Sokovia's had a rough history." Maria began leading the way off the jet. Steve and Lex followed close behind listening to her brief. "It's nowhere special, but it's on the way to everywhere special."

"Their abilities?" Steve wanted to know.

"He's got increased metabolism and improved homeostasis. Her thing is neuroelectric interfacing, telekinesis, mental manipulation…" Maria saw the blank look on Steve's face and decided to simplify it. "He's fast and she's weird."

"Well, they're gonna show up again." Steve handed Maria her tablet back. They had reached the end of the hallway they had been walking down. Lex reached over and pushed the button for the elevator. She assumed Steve was going home to change.

"Agreed. File says they volunteered for Strucker's experiments." The agent noted with disapproval. "It's nuts."

"Right." Steve visibly stiffened. "What kind of monster would let a German scientist experiment on them to protect their country?"

"We're not at war, Captain." She defended herself.

"They are." He countered. The elevator had arrived. He gently tugged Lex inside and pressed the DOOR CLOSE button. Soon a sliding door separated them from Agent Hill.

Finally alone with his gal, Steve wrapped his arms around Lex and held her tight. She was surprised. She'd been expecting a fight or a lecture. Instead she leaned into him. Her head leaning against his chest and her own arms now around his waist. She felt his chin come to rest on top of her hair. They rode the elevator down ten stories like that. Not saying anything just holding each other. When the elevator finally dinged they stepped out, silently holding hands.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Steve was the first to speak once they were inside his apartment.

"Mainly, because I knew you wouldn't be comfortable lying to Tony. I wasn't ready for him to know." She explained. "That's also why I didn't want you to teach me. Not because I don't trust you with planes. We all joke about that Steve, but I know you're never in any danger of actually crashing a plane again. But you care about Tony so much, and I think you seek his approval sometimes. And if I would have told you, you would have told him. This was something I needed to do. It's a skill I need to have."

"I'm not arguing that point. Although there are plenty of us who know how to fly already. Nat, Sam, Rhodey...Can you imagine what it would have been like for Tony or I to get the phone call that something had happened to you? What if we thought you'd gone off to the Bartons to babysit and you were really off flying? Which I assume is what was happening. What if you and Clint crashed a plane? Can you even for a second imagine one of us getting that phone call?"

"Yes. I can." She told hm. Lex felt a chill wash over her. She was suddenly confronted with a feeling she'd been extinguishing for a very long time. Genuine panic. "I can imagine getting that phone call, because every single day for the past year I've worried that I'm going to get that phone call. It doesn't matter if it's Sam, or Tony or or you. Every time one of you walks out that door I worry it's going to be the last time that I see you _. I almost died going to a party_. And if I can get almost killed at a party on New Year's Eve, I can only imagine the sorts of horrible things that can happen to you guys when you're not inside this tower."

"This isn't even a life I wanted for myself. I never expected to live here, to meet you. Rachelle moving out here with me. None of it was what I thought would happen. I was suppose to be getting to know my dad, and now, I'm caught in this whirlwind. Even if I wanted to, I can never go back to the person I used to be. I could never go back to being Lex Stallion, business major at NYU. The girl who sits and lets the world go by without her. I'm invested in this, one hundred and ten percent."

"I'm Lex Stallion-Stark now. Daughter of Tony Stark, a burden which carries a hell of a lot more weight than I thought. Then there's the fact that I'm Captain America's girl. I'm sure people are just waiting to for me to mess that up, because honestly I know I am. To make matters worse, I dragged my best friend into this now. She's dating Sam. The Avengers is literally my whole life. I love these people with so much more emotion than I even knew was possible for the human heart to bare. So yes, I can imagine what that phone call must feel like. But I'm gonna do my damned best to make sure we put off making one of those phone calls for as long as humanly possible."

Lex could feel her body shaking. Every dark thought she'd had about her family was rushing to the surface. Every nightmare she'd woken screaming to, was flashing in her mind's eye. Steve knew what was about to happen next, he'd seen it happen to Lex before and once or twice with Tony. He heard her breathing go ragged, the panic attack too far on its way to be stopped. The best he could do was make it pass quickly.

He tugged off the top half of his suit. He had learned from Dr. Banner that skin to skin contact was a good way to calm someone, whether they were angry or having a panic attack. He pulled Lex close to him. Sure it wasn't technically skin to skin, but he was hoping that the warmth of his bare chest would work the same. He squeezed Lex, but tried not to squeeze too hard. Tony had told him before that a tight hug can force a person having a panic attack to break more evenly.

It took seven minutes before Lex could see the room around her again. She deeply inhaled Steve's scent directly under her nose. He smelled a little sweaty, but she didn't mind. A sweaty Steve meant he was an alive Steve. She opened here eyes. Her vison was foggy and she felt a migraine coming on, but the panic attack was passing. Steve could feel the change in her breathing. He tilted her chin upwards and looked down into her eyes.

"You're okay." He promised. "I've got you, Doll. I'm not going anywhere."

* * *

 **A/N: Okay last chapter of the day. I might be back with more tomorrow? Honestly, I never know! I'm go to try and squeeze some fluff in this story too, because Ultron is so sad and angsty! I'm looking forward to the big party scene before ultron crashes it though!**

 **Ziggy55, Glad I could give you a break from Star Trek. I've seen some GIFs from the animated show. Quality stuff! I will however continue trying to balance Star Trek and Avengers for you, and I will try to make frequent updates, assuming I dont fall off the face of the planet again. Thanks so much for reviewing Chapter 10 by the way!**


	12. Chapter 12

Being encased in Steve's arms was one of greatest feelings in the entire world. When Lex closed her eyes and thought of home, it was anywhere that he was. They hadn't known each other long, but something about him always felt right. She knew Steve was the only person she wanted to spend the rest of her life with. She loved him, even if she didn't always know how to say it.

"I'm sorry Clint and I didn't tell you." She apologized.

"Lex, if this is going to work out between us, you have to learn to trust me." He looked down at her. His expression very serious. "If that means keeping a secret from Tony, then that's what I'll have to do. But you can't keep secrets like this from me." He bent his head down and planted a soft kiss on her cheek. "Let me get you some water."

"You know, I forget sometimes." She said quietly. She watched him pour a glass of water. "I forget that you were in the army. You fought real wars. I act like you need to be protected, but you've seen people die, haven't you?"

"We don't have to talk about this." He said placing the glass in front of her.

"No, we do." Lex shook her head. "We should have talked about this a long time ago, Steve. Sometimes I treat you like you're a kid who needs to be watched, babysat. But you've lived a whole other life in a completely different time. I bet you had friends. And weren't you dating Grandpa Howard's friend, Margaret Carter?"

"Something like that." Steve nodded. "Peggy and I were, well I don't know what we were. We never really had a chance to figure it out. I didn't have a lot of friends either. It was mostly just Bucky."

"Bucky Barnes. I read about him before for school projects and stuff. I know he died during the war, but Peggy, she's still alive, isn't she? Why don't you ever talk about either of them?"

"I used to visit her occasionally." He confessed. "But she's very old, her memory isn't so great. It got harder on both of us with every visit. So I stopped going. Her niece keeps me updated, sometimes I call. But Bucky, Peggy, even Howard, that's all in the past now. I try not to think about it. I try looking forward."

"Of course. After what you've been through I think you've earned that right. I just, I want you to know Steve that I don't make decisions lightly. I didn't just wake up one day and decide that I wanted to fly a plane. I didn't just show up at Tony and Pepper's door, and I didn't kiss you for the first time by accident. Everything I do is a result of weighted pros and cons. I consider all of my options before making a choice. From now on, I will try to be more inclusive in my decision making process. I won't just do things without telling you."

"Thank you, Lex. It may seem insignificant, but it means a lot to me." Steve bent down and kissed the top of his girlfriend's head. "What do you say I get changed and we go see how Barton's doing?"

A few floors up in Dr. Banner's lab, Clint was laying on what looked like a futuristic cat scan machine. A half-round metal arm was covering his mid-section, small moving lights seemed to be scanning him. Upon further inspection, Lex realized they weren't scanning at all. They were creating tissue, filling in Clint's wound layer by layer. Dr. Cho was monitoring the archer's healing from a nearby computer, her back to the door. Natasha was the only other person in the room, she was standing at Clint's side, watching the machinery suspiciously.

"Are you sure he's gonna be okay?" She asked the Doctor. "Pretending to need this guy really brings the team together."

"There is no possibility of deterioration." Dr. Cho promised, turning around. "The nano-molecular functionality is instantaneous. His cells don't know they're bonding with simulacrum."

"She's creating tissue." Lex explained to Steve and Nat, who both seemed uncertain about the procedure. "it's really cool." Neither of them were convinced. "Forget it." She waved them off.

"Hey kid thanks for the assist back there. Sorry I had to finally blow your cover." Clint smiled up at her from his position on the table.

"It's fine." Lex couldn't help but smile back. She was glad that Clint was going to be alight. If that meant her secret had to get out, it was worth it. "It was time for Dad and Steve to find out anyway."

"Uh oh, he's flatlining! Call it. Time?" Tony bellowed dramatically as he re-entered the lab with Bruce. "Your beverage." He handed Clint paper cup with a lid and straw. "Glad you're going to pull through for us Katniss so I can have the chance to kill you myself."

"Right. I'd say I was sorry, except that I'm not." Clint smirked before sipping from the drink Tony had brought him. "Besides, I'm going to live forever. I'm gonna be made of plastic."

"You're going to be made of you, Mr. Barton." Dr. Cho interrupted. "Your own girlfriend wouldn't be able to tell the difference."

"I don't have a girlfriend." Clint smirked.

"That I can't fix." Dr. Cho chuckled. "I noticed your interest in the technology Miss Stark, are you a scientist like your father?"

"Let's just say I'm warming up to the family business. A mind is a terrible thing to waste and all that." Lex smiled.

"Well, let me offer you a small piece of advice. This is the future. Your father's clunky metal suits are going to be left in the dust." Dr. Cho suggested.

"Well that is exactly the plan." Tony agreed seriously. It was almost out of character for him, but a split second later he was grinning again. "Helen, I expect to see you at the party on Saturday."

"Unlike you, I don't have a lot of time for parties." She quipped. "Will Thor be there?" She added as an afterthought.

* * *

 **A/n: I've been away for another brief hiatus, but I hope you enjoyed this Chapter! :D You are all beautiful people and I'm so glad you've found this story!**

 **Thank you to gotmoreissuesthanvogue & Writer-at-Heart0 for your reviews of Chapter 11! I love the reviews so much they let me know that my work is being enjoyed and in turn I always enjoy reading your opinions/responses to each chapter. A huge thank you to everyone for reading, reviewing, favoring, following and enjoying! I'll be back again soon!**


	13. Chapter 13

"I noticed your interest in the technology Miss Stark, are you a scientist like your father?" Dr. Cho turned her attention to the younger woman who she had spotted watching the monitors out of the corner of her eye.

"Let's just say I'm warming up to the family business." Lex pulled her attention from the computer that was helping to reconstruct Clint's abdomen. She couldn't help but be fascinated by the machine as it basically 3D printed him new skin. "A mind is a terrible thing to waste and all that." She added, still watching the molecular surgery.

"Well, let me offer you a small piece of advice. This is the future. Your father's clunky metal suits are going to be left in the dust." Dr. Cho playfully teased Tony.

"That is exactly the plan." He agreed. Her comment seemed to catch him off guard before a grin spread across his face. "Helen, I expect to see you at the party on Saturday."

"Unlike you, I don't have a lot of time for parties." Dr. Cho quipped. There was a beat, she seemed to be mulling something over before adding, "Will Thor be there?"

"Probably." Lex interjected. "He's the only person we know who loves parties more than Tony." Just then her cellphone vibrated. She had a text message from Rachelle.

 _OMG, Alex are you home yet?! You HAVE to tell me what happened when you went to pick everyone up!_

 _ **Yes, I'm home. Are you at the office?**_ Was Lex's rapid reply.

 _YES! Please tell me everything!_

 _ **On my way. :)**_ _ **CU soon!**_

"Rachelle just texted me." Lex gave a small wave with her cellphone still in her left hand. "She said she needs me to head down to the office for something. So, if you're going to be alright Clint…"

"You people can't get rid of me that easily." Clint grunted from his uncomfortable bed. "But before you go, can you do me a favor, kid?"

"Anything." She nodded.

"Can you call the hanger where my planes are stored? Make sure my babies are alright?" Lex was smart enough to understand what Clint was really asking. With a sly wink she began scrolling through her contacts for Laura Barton's phone number.

"I'm sure they're fine. They can't go anywhere without you so your planes are in no danger at all. Aviation nerd." She rolled her eyes. "Anyone else need me to check up on their inanimate objects before I go?" With no other objections from the Avengers, Lex politely excused herself from the room.

 _ **Rachelle wanted to know what happened when I picked you guys up. That's why I'm really going to Stark Ind. No more secrets, I promised.**_ She sent Steve a text message before calling Laura Barton to let her know that Clint was doing okay and would call her as soon as she could. Laura thanked Lex for the follow up information and told her she hoped to hear from her again soon on better terms.

"Good Afternoon. Miss Stark, it's a pleasure to have you back in the building." Happy Hogan greeted the Alexandria from behind the Stark Industries security desk.

"Hi Happy." She smiled back at him. "I'm here to see Rachelle, and Pepper too I guess."

"Lucky? I didn't think you'd be let out of the tower!" Lex looked over her shoulder to see Sam walking towards her with a tray of coffees. "Stripes said you went to pick up the team. Thanks for asking _me_ to teach you how to fly by the way."

"Teach you how to fly?" Happy repeated from his seat at the desk. "You learned how to fly a plane?"

"It's a really long story." Lex said. "Cliff notes version is that Hawkeye's been secretly teaching me and Tony and Steve just found out. I don't know which of them is maddest about it."

"Does Ms. Potts know?" Happy leaned forward, intrigued. "You better get on up there. You too Mr. Wilson."

"Oh-ho Believe me Hogan I'm not gonna miss this, but I brought you a coffee." He held out a paper cup to the Head of Security.

"Thanks, but I think Mrs. Stark is going to need it more."

"Any chance you've got some Bailey's or Kahlua hiding under that desk, Happy?" She asked, prying one of the coffees from the paper tray in Sam's hand. "I'm kidding, kidding." She assured him. "Mostly." She whispered low enough for only Sam to hear. "Right, let's get upstairs, Wilson." Sipping from the cup of black coffee between her fingers Lex led the way towards the elevators.

Up in the Stark Industries executive suit, Pepper was sitting at her desk. She was talking to Tony, who was re-counting the events of his whole day to her. Complete with Clint's wild suggestion that Lex fly the team home. Rachelle was, as usual, bustling through office ferrying files from one desk to another. She stopped mid-step when she laid eyes on her boyfriend and best friend.

"Alex, you brought Sam!" She smiled brightly.

"Actually I found him in the lobby, but he brought coffee so…" Lex raised her cup at Sam before taking another sip from it.

"I was coming to surprise you, but I guess it's not as exciting when your airplane-flying-bestie comes swinging in." Sam pouted.

"That's not true!" Rachelle shook her head. "I missed you Sammy!" She gave Sam an gigantic hug and a dramatic kiss on the cheek.

"Sammy?" Lex practically choked on her sip of coffee. "Sorry. Sorry. I didn't realize you two were at the pet name phase yet…Right, best friend shutting up now."

"Alexandria, I'm so glad you're alright!" Pepper had finished her phone call with Tony. She stepped out into the hallway where everyone was standing. "When Rachelle texted me this morning I was so worried! Then of course I realize it was the most Stark thing you could have done. How did he take the news?"

"Better than Steve." Lex sighed. "Though I'm sure you guessed that from his phone call. He's still mad?"

"Oh you know Tony. He's always up in arms about something." Pepper shrugged. "Give it sometime and he'll be mad at the toaster for burning his bread. In the meantime, how about a late lunch?"

"I'm starving! I haven't eaten all day. Two transcontinental flights really builds up an appetite. You coming Rach? Sammy?" Lex asking, wagging her eyebrows at her two friends.

* * *

 **A/N: Not a lot happening in this Chapter, but in the next one Ultron will probably be crashing a certain Stark party. ;)**

 **Special thank you to gotmoreissuesthanvogue and 1 Guest for your review of Chapter 12! And thank you to everyone for your continued support of the story. Cant wait to hear from y'all. I'll be back with new chapters ASAP.**


	14. Chapter 14

While his daughter had run off to have lunch with her friend's and Pepper, Tony pulled Bruce into his lab. There was something he had to show his "Science Bro." For a while they had been playing around with the idea of total artificial intelligence. If they could accomplish that, maybe the world wouldn't need the Avengers. It had started out with the Iron Legion, Tony's assembly of hollow Iron Man type suits who were all controlled and enforced by JARVIS' mainframe. But they were looking to take things to the next level.

"We were wondering how Strucker got so inventive." He began to explain. Bruce was listening, but his face was knotted together with concern. "So I've been analyzing the gem inside of the scepter." Tony picked up a glass data card from his workstation and gave it a gently flick. A four-foot tall orange holographic orb appeared right where Bruce was standing. "You may recognize…"

"JARVIS?" Bruce guessed, side-stepping out of the image. He had seen the constantly flowing image of orange data on so many of the holoscreens around the tower, that he recognized JARVIS almost instantly. Of course, this was a higher definition version of what he was used to but still, it was JARVIS.

"Dr. Banner." JARVIS answered back politely as both scientists stared at him.

"Started out, JARVIS was just a natural language UI, now he runs the whole Iron Legion. He runs more of the business than anyone besides Pepper. Top of the line." Tony said.

"Yes." Bruce nodded. Not sure what direction his friend's speech was about to take.

"I suspect not for long." JARVIS interjected. Tony took the glass data card in his hand and gave it another shake. "Meet the competition." He announced. Slowly a new holograph began to appear next to JARVIS. This one was blue and at least three times the size of their familiar AI. "If you had to guess, what's it look like…"

"Like it's thinking." Bruce replied immediately. Just like JARVIS, the map of the gem seemed to be always turning, calculating. It was also very similar to imaging of a human brain.

"This could be it, Bruce!" Tony held both of his arms open wide gesturing at JARVIS and the gem's map. He had that oh too familiar gleam in his eyes. That trademark, reckless, Stark grin was creeping its way onto his face. "This could be the key to creating Ultron!"

"I thought Ultron was a fantasy." Bruce said with an uncomfortable chuckle. He knew that Tony's mind was already made up. That no matter what he said, Tony was going to insist on moving forward with his plans, but still he tried.

"Yesterday it was." Tony said very seriously. He looked down at the data card in his hands, then back over to the holomaps. "If we can harness this power, apply it to my Iron Legion protocol?"

"That's a man-sized if." Bruce shook his head. He knew all too well the dangers of meddling too far into something. The last timed he'd tried that, well you've heard about the big green rage monster.

"Our job is _if_! What if you were sipping margaritas on a sun-drenched beach turning brown instead of green? Not looking over your shoulder for Veronica?"

"Don't hate. I helped design Veronica." Bruce waged a finger at his friend cautiously.

"As a worst-case measure, right?" Tony held up his hands as if to say, _Here me out on this._ "How about a best case? What if the world was safe? What if the next time aliens roll up to the club, _and they will_ , they couldn't get passed the bouncer?"

"The only people threatening the planet would be people." Bruce sighed. The worst thing about this was he could completely understand where Tony was coming from. It was the Emerald City of scientific discovery, imagine how much better things would be _if_ they could just get there?

"Exactly!" Tony exclaimed excitedly. "I want to apply this to the Ultron program, but JARVIS can't download a data schematic this dense. We can only do it while we have the scepter here. That's three days. Give me three days."

"What does Alexandria think about all of this?" Bruce asked, knowing his friend hadn't consulted his daughter yet.

"She doesn't need to know about this until it's all done." Tony folded his arms over his chest.

"Tony…" Bruce heaved a great sigh. "She's your kid and she loves you. If we only have three days to do this wouldn't it be better to have her help? I'm sure she'd be willing…"

"I'm sure she would too, but that's not the point." The Billionaire rolled his eyes. How could he make Bruce understand? "She might be my daughter, but we both know Lex hasn't been a kid for a long time. When she first came here she was quiet, all pleases and thank yous. Now she's all grown up flying planes and sneaking around with freaking Captain Underpants. No. If she catches wind of this she'll sell me out to Fabio and the Star Spangled Old Man first chance she gets."

Bruce studied his friend's face while he took a beat to think. It was clear that Tony was going to work on this project whether he had the doctor's help or not. The question was, would anyone be able to stop him if he took it too far? Lex could. He was sure of that, but Tony didn't want her involved. There was the possibility that she would tell Steve or Thor what her father was planning, ruining his chances of accomplishing something.

"So, you want to try for total artificial intelligence and you don't want to tell the team?" Bruce rubbed the back of his neck uncomfortably.

"Right." Tony nodded. "That's right. You know why? Because we don't have time for a City Hall debate. I don't want to hear the 'Man was not meant to meddle' medley. I see a suit of armor around the world."

"It sounds like a cold world, Tony." Bruce answered seriously. Perhaps he could get to his friend before things even got started.

"I've seen colder." Tony replied his tone just as serious. "This one, this very vulnerable blue one, it needs Ultron. Peace in our time. Imagine that?"

* * *

 **A/n: Sorry this chapter is terribly boring. Just a much needed set up for Ultron! I will try and be back soon with a new update that hopefully has more than just edited movie** **dialog. I can't wait to really get things started and have Lex involved in the action! To the guest asking about CA:Civil War, I'm not quite ready to reveal which side Lex will be on, or if she'll take a side at all! ;) Guess we'll just have to wait together!**

 **As always and incredible and heartfelt thank you to gotmoreissuesthanvogue, writer-at-heart0, Darth Becky 726, Lollypops101, Sofia, and** **the Guests who have taken time to review this story! I look forward to hearing your thoughts with every new chapter! Thank you to everyone who favorites, follows, reviews and enjoys this story! I will be back soon with more updates.**


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